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Death Valley National Park
We spent two amazing days at Death Valley National Park, one of the hottest and driest places on Earth, with summer temperatures reaching over 120°F. The park has incredible landscapes like sand dunes, salt flats, colorful hills, and rugged mountains.
We visited Badwater Basin, the lowest point in North America at 282 feet below sea level, and saw the vast salt flats stretching for miles. The white, crusty surface, created by ancient lake evaporation, had natural hexagonal patterns from drying and cracking soil.
We enjoyed sunrise at the sand dunes and loved the Artists Palette, where the hills are splashed with shades of red, orange, yellow, green, and blue due to oxidized minerals like iron and manganese.
We also hiked the rim of Ubehebe Crater, which is 600 feet deep and half a mile wide, formed by a volcanic explosion. The views were breathtaking!
Death Valley National Park photos
Red Rock Canyon, Bellagio Hotel and Hoover Dam
We visited Red Rock Canyon, part of the Mojave Desert, known for its towering red sandstone formations. The rocks get their red color from iron oxide, giving them a unique look. We drove the 13-mile scenic route and enjoyed the beautiful formations at sunset. We also saw petroglyphs in the area.
We visited the water fountain show at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas. The fountains, set in a large lake, perform a beautiful water and light show synchronized to music every 15 minutes at night. We also saw the Bellagio Conservatory & Botanical Gardens, a 14,000-square-foot space with stunning floral displays, colorful arches, water features, and plant-based sculptures.
The next day, in the evening, we visited Valley of Fire State Park, about an hour from Las Vegas. Named for its vibrant red sandstone formations, the park glows like fire under sunlight. Near sunset, we hiked the 1-mile Rainbow Vista trail, enjoying the beautiful, multicolored rock formations. The trail ended at a viewpoint overlooking Fire Canyon, which looked especially stunning at sunset.
Hoover Dam is a massive engineering marvel which was completed in 1936. It was built to control the Colorado River, provide water and power to the Southwest, and create Lake Mead, the largest reservoir in the United States. The dam is 726 feet tall and 1,244 feet wide. It generates hydroelectric power for people in Nevada, Arizona, and California. In the tour we walked through the original construction tunnels and visited the viewing platform overlooking a 30 foot diameter penstock. We walked across the pedestrian pathway of the Hoover Dam Bypass Bridge, also known as the Mike O'Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge, and enjoyed the amazing views of the dam and the Colorado River below. It was named after Mike O'Callaghan, a former governor of Nevada and Pat Tillman, a professional football player and Army Ranger who lost his life in Afghanistan. The bridge is 1,905 feet long and 890 feet above the Colorado River, making it the second-highest bridge in the United States.
Las Vegas, Red Rock Canyon, Hoover Dam and other pictures
